best sound you ever heard

[jamescarter1982]

I would like to ask what is the best sound you ever heard from a hifi setup . mine was the first time I went to buy a pair of celestion a2 speakers . the rest of the system I can't remember but the sound was spine tinglingly good . they never sounded that good for me at home but I think my amp at the time was not powerful enough for them . I've made up my mind to buy a pair again and try and get that sound for myself

 

[Doodski]

I would like to ask what is the best sound you ever heard from a hifi setup . mine was the first time I went to buy a pair of celestion a2 speakers . the rest of the system I can't remember but the sound was spine tinglingly good . they never sounded that good for me at home but I think my amp at the time was not powerful enough for them . I've made up my mind to buy a pair again and try and get that sound for myself

I ran a pair of Infinity Kappa 9 and a pair of B&W 801 Matrix simultaneously powered from a Yamaha MX-1000 and a Luxman M03 and that sounded pretty fine for the time.

 

[fpitas]

K2 S9900 horn speakers in the downstairs theatre room of the JBL Times Square store. The Salon2s in the adjacent Revel room were good, but were better the next time we went, after they got some absorbers on the walls.

 

[jamescarter1982]

K2 S9900 horn speakers in the downstairs theatre room of the JBL Times Square store. The Salon2s in the adjacent Revel room were good, but were better the next time we went, after they got some absorbers on the walls.

interesting reading about the k2 thankyou !

 

[Open Mind Audio]

Perhaps off-topic, but the acoustics of Boston Symphony Hall - that's the best piece of audio equipment I've heard.

 

[pseudoid]

My very first cheezy-*ss, fugly and black plastic Panasonic AIO Radio/Turntable unit.
If I recall correctly, the feather-weight 6" speakers were hard-wired to the back of the thing. I had paid for it w/the 'riches' from my paper-route and I thought I was in heaven!
I soon realized that I would have to get better paying jobs for that 'quest' that kept me going thru my professional career.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Two most real were weird. First was a PA speaker in a railroad terminal down long ceramic tile lined halls. When the announcer came on it sounded so lifelike it would make you jump a moment every time. It sounded like someone at the end of a long reflective hall, but it sounded fully convincing as a real person. Speakers driven by tube amps from the early 1960s.

The other was walking onto the porch of a friend and standing just outside his door. He had Magnepan MG2s with a G.A.S. amp playing FM from the local public radio station from a Tandberg tuner. On the porch it was a fully convincing sound making you think a real piano was just in the doorway. Inside it was merely good hifi, but outside it was real. I went in and out several times and it was so real sounding.

More conventionally, I would pick first time hearing Quad ESL-63's. A friend had gotten some. Within 5 minutes or less I was so taken with them I simply had to have some. I did get some and used then happily for about 12 years.

Another was hearing some large Wilson Maxx speakers in a very large cross shaped room. I'd heard the same speakers in rectangular rooms and they were merely spectacular. In the cross shaped room they were impressively real sounding. Has always made me wonder why a cross shaped room helped so much. It makes some sense if you think about reflections. The speakers were near the center of the cross. You need a weird house plan to end up with such a room, and that was how this one came to be.

 

[dfuller]

The best sounding system I've ever heard is ATC SCM150ASL Pros + the ATC 15" sub in a purpose-built mastering room. Pretty damn stunning, if I do say so myself. Totally effortlessly clean even at utterly absurd volumes, super even 20 to 20. I want to say it's using a Grace M906 for D/A and monitor control? I don't remember if it's going analog or digital into that.

 

[jamescarter1982]

I ran a pair of Infinity Kappa 9 and a pair of B&W 801 Matrix simultaneously powered from a Yamaha MX-1000 and a Luxman M03 and that sounded pretty fine for the time

thankyou I'll have a look at the kappa 9s

The best sounding system I've ever heard is ATC SCM150ASL Pros + the ATC 15" sub in a purpose-built mastering room. Pretty damn stunning, if I do say so myself. Totally effortlessly clean even at utterly absurd volumes, super even 20 to 20. I want to say it's using a Grace M906 for D/A and monitor control? I don't remember if it's going analog or digital into that.

I finally heard some atc scm50s the other month they were a lot smoother than I expected and as you walked round the room the sound hardly changed at all I'm putting that down to the dispersion of the middome it's such a shame they stopped selling it to the public would love to make some clones of the scm150

 

[Darkman]

The best? Hmm ...
Box Goodmans Audiom 61 on low and Axiom 301 (16 Ohm)
Large housing, ventilated.
Controlled from QUAD 66 to KT55 GE P-P class A
SME + EMT studio

IN 1978 Y

 

[Thomas_A]

Must have been one of my visits to Studio Blue in Stockholm. Ino Audio speaker system; the >80 Hz monitors with 4x8.5 inch woofers per channel, and 4x15 inch vented subs.

 

[Doodski]

thankyou I'll have a look at the kappa 9s

I don't know what you are doing with this information from ASR peeps about speakers. So I'll add a little to my post if you are interested in a Kappa 9. The speakers require at least ~200w/ch to function properly. The amp should be 2 Ohm stable. They are a very power hungry 6 way speaker design. If one can give them even more power that's better. Here's a pic of the crossover schematic.

 

[Darkman]

Interestingly, these old crossovers are well made.

Like many other hard-to-drive systems, only amplifiers with a balanced output drive them.
The standard amplifier doesn't stand a chance.

 

[Darkman]

The same thing happens with the other JBL Ti250s (old - best)
After the first few bars of the music we know whether the system can do it or not.

 

[Darkman]

It is not even about power, but about real possibilities of controlling the resistant speaker set (crossover).

That is why the quad bike amping is the only correct but expensive alternative.

 

[Thomas_A]

I don't know what you are doing with this information from ASR peeps about speakers. So I'll add a little to my post if you are interested in a Kappa 9. The speakers require at least ~200w/ch to function properly. The amp should be 2 Ohm stable. They are a very power hungry 6 way speaker design. If one can give them even more power that's better. Here's a pic of the crossover schematic.

Perhaps 0.8 ohm stable?

 

[Doodski]

Perhaps 0.8 ohm stable?

I've read several Kappa 9 impedance ratings made by random internet doods but none of them had any test results to back up the claim(s). 0.8 Ohms would not surprise me. I've triggered the protection circuitry on multiple beasty amps when operating the Kappa 9. Not doing anything danger zone or excessive and just cranking up the power levels a bit to get some dBs from the Kappa 9. I don't have any aspirations about the Kappa 9 having flat response too. They have a thumpy bottom end, very clear and crisp top end and a midrange that is pretty nice too. All in all they sound pretty nice although in my opinion are a bit colored.

I found a impedance test graph and you are correct. They go down to ~0.8 Ohms.

 

[iMickey503]

I really haven't had that moment yet. And it would be a bittersweet day when it comes.
I honestly can't remember a time I was ever satisfied enough to say it was a "best HiFi setup".

The only thing that even comes close is when I was at Disneyland with the Captain EO ride. I can't think of any complaints I had. It was I think the closest I have ever been to being immersed to the point I didn't even notice the speakers.

I think if you are sitting and listening critically? It's really hard not to find a shortcoming in HiFi setups that ruins the immersion for me.

However, 6 years ago at a Karaoke bar for a highschool reunion, I heard a vocalist that set the bar so high? I can never forget it. Modest gear. But it was the vocalist.. I haven't heard a voice that good since... ever really.

 

[Blumlein 88]

I don't know what you are doing with this information from ASR peeps about speakers. So I'll add a little to my post if you are interested in a Kappa 9. The speakers require at least ~200w/ch to function properly. The amp should be 2 Ohm stable. They are a very power hungry 6 way speaker design. If one can give them even more power that's better. Here's a pic of the crossover schematic.

So you are familiar with them. I heard some with a pair of bridged Classe 25 amps which is about a 1000 watts per side. And they can put out current too.

 

[Darkman]

When it comes to power levels ... the paper will accept anything.
The power is based on that is the bass.
So the actual power applied for e.g. 50 Hz should be given.
Just compare the power of the old Krell KSA50 vs the newest Krell